BAYERN MUNICH CLINCHES BUNDESLIGA TITLE

Bayern Munich clinched their 22nd German Bundesliga soccer title on Saturday, using a 3-1 victory over relegation bound Hertha Berlin to claim the crown.  As it worked out, they didn’t even need the victory. Bayern entered the contest leading  the league by three points, and would have won the title regardless of their game’s outcome due to second place Schalke’s scoreless draw with Mainz.  Bayern Munich also held a 17 goal advantage over their rivals, meaning they would have won the tiebreaker had the top two teams finished with the same number of points.

Soccer betting odds favored visiting Bayern Munich, pricing the eventual Bundesliga champs as -120 favorites.  Takeback on Hertha Berlin was +260 while the odds of the match ending in a draw were also listed at +260.  Hertha Berlin finished dead last in the standings and actually had a better record on the road than at home where they managed to win only one game all year.  Bayern Munich finished with an away record of 8 wins, 6 draws against 3 losses.

Despite the glacial difference in the standings between the two side, the game was far from a rout.  Munich opened the scoring on Ivica Olic’s goal 22 minutes into the game, and the visitors took a 1-0 lead into the halftime break.  Gustavo Ramos tied the game at 1-1 14 minutes into the second half which buoyed the hopes of the home crowd.  Bayern Munich’s Arjen Robben would secure the victory with a goal at 74 minutes and add another at 87 minutes to produce the final 3-1 margin.

Bayern Munich manager Louis van Gaal had these thoughts following the contest:

"I think people will remember the Bayern team of the 2009/10 season. We had the best attack, the best defence and I think we played the most attractive football this season and that is important for me. It is a good to win and we managed to stay in our rhythm. I will party until very late tonight."

German soccer icon and honorary President of Bayern Munich Franz Beckenbauer—affectionately nicknamed ‘Der Kaiser’-- had praise for manager van Gaal after his first season at the helm:

"I have got to say that I am warming to him. Louis knows precisely what he is doing. He is a strict, decisive and disciplined coach who, on the other hand, can also be relaxed and let himself go when celebrating.''  

Bayern Munich’s next challenge will be to derail the momentum of Italian Serie A leader Inter Milan in the Champions League Finals.  The matchup with Internazionale will take place on May 22 at Madrid’s Estadio Santiago Bernabéu.